


Something for Herself

by Kalloway



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-24 23:07:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17713397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalloway/pseuds/Kalloway
Summary: Xander makes the same offer to all of his siblings- take something, take a few things... to remember our father by.Corrin isn't sure what she might want.





	Something for Herself

**Author's Note:**

> For poetry_fiction, for lines from 'What the Sea Brought In' by Tishani Doshi.
> 
>  
> 
> _Three dying fish, four dead grandparents._  
>  _Slippers of every stripe: rubber, leather,_  
>  _Rexine, felt. Rope, mollusc, baleen, foam._  
>  _Two ghost children foraging their way_  
>  _home._

"Oh." The only reason Corrin didn't stop in her tracks was because Xander was right behind her and with a firm hand on her back. Leo led the way, and Camilla had Elise's hand in hers behind him.

She wasn't quite sure what she'd been expecting, but this wasn't really it.

They'd finally gone to their father's suite to look through things and for Xander to decide what parts he wanted changed, what he might like added, and... whatever else.

Corrin had never been in there before, and from the way most of her siblings were looking around, she wasn't alone in that. Xander, on the other hand, moved with more familiarity as he slipped from around Corrin and over to look at a few papers resting on a side-table near the main door.

"It's not what I expected." Leo was the one who voiced Corrin's thoughts.

"It's kind of nice," Elise managed. Corrin didn't disagree.

"I've never been in here before," Camilla added.

"It's been a long time since I've been in here," Xander admitted as he shuffled the papers into a pile and put them back. "I don't think we'll get through everything at once, either. But if you find any papers, I'd like to see them. If there's anything you'd like... Keepsakes, I suppose..."

Corrin was sure she wanted something. Even if Garon hadn't been her father, even if she'd only been a tool for his use, she... hadn't completely stripped herself of all feeling for him, either.

But what...

Slowly, they all dispersed, looking around at the main room of the royal suite, and at side-rooms-- a study, the main bedchamber and the one connected to it for the queen... There were more rooms, one a large wardrobe, another mostly empty, another packed almost haphazardly with boxes...

Not a one of the five seemed to know where to start and, equally unsure, Corrin just wandered around twice, finally pausing beside Xander in the second bedroom. The bed was made up nicely, though it seemed to have the faintest sheen of dust on it. There was almost no personality in the decor. Fresh flowers had been placed on a side-table not too long before; they had not entirely wilted.

"This was still my mother's bedroom, the last time I was in here," Xander explained after a moment. "I have a single ring of hers, but nothing more. I begged Father, but in his grief he called me weak and ordered all her things burned."

"I'm sorry..."

"I don't know if it was actually done," Xander continued. "But this was Arete's room afterward, and I don't know if he let others take it after her death. I suppose I didn't want to know. I didn't hate Mother Arete-- perhaps in my grief, I said things I shouldn't have, but I didn't truly dislike her. I simply disliked that my mother was gone and... that things were changing, I suppose."

"Maybe we'll find some things," Corrin offered softly. "I'll help check every drawer and box and everything. Just in case."

"Thank you," Xander replied, and though he opened his mouth like he was going to say more, he just shook his head and walked over to tug on the first drawer of the side-table with the flowers.

Corrin, unsure, wandered onward and into the study where Leo was looking at the spines of every book on the shelves. He didn't seem to notice her as she slipped over to look at the books at the other end of the wall.

The first one that caught her eye was a deep red and didn't have a title on the spine. Corrin pulled it from the shelf and was surprised to see that it had a crude latch on the other side.

"Oh!"

"Corrin?" Leo looked over at her. "What did you find?"

"I'm not sure," Corrin admitted. "It's a fake, I think."

She walked over to set it on the desk and unlatch it. Surely there couldn't be anything too strange inside. Still, before she could open it, Leo did.

Inside were bottles, neatly packed and corked, all with the same deep purple liquid in them.

"Poison, most likely," Leo said. "I'm sure Camilla will know. Leave it out. And look for more."

Corrin nodded, not knowing what to say. Instead of reading the spines, Corrin just pulled out one volume after the other, then flipping a few pages to make sure it was indeed just a book. The contents of more than one sent her into giggles and blushing and oh, she put those back on the shelves very quickly and with only a few awkward gestures to Leo.

Together, they found jewelry and daggers, a folded bit of perfumed silk, three pale bones, and a few love notes. One book had an actual lock and that one was set aside as well.

"What are you two doing?" Elise's voice rang out as they got to the last shelf.

"Finding a few treasures, I think," Corrin replied. She wanted to go find Xander and ask him about the jewelry and silk, just in case. It somehow felt right, but...

"Can I help?"

"Can you find Camilla for us?" Leo asked. "We need her here, too."

Elise nodded and was off, and the last shelf went quickly. It was in the middle, low, and just behind where their father would have sat--

Every last book was hollow aside from one. Leo and Corrin stacked them up, almost laughing.

The last one was a journal; Garon's. Though it had seemingly been abandoned for some years.

"We'll give it to Xander," Leo said softly. Corrin nodded and then reached for the next book. It rattled.

"What have you found for me?"

"Everything," Leo replied as he got to his feet. He'd been kneeling. Corrin sat with the pile of books. "I have poison for you to identify, and a few weapons..."

"Oh, I should tell you about weapons," Camilla said as she strode around the table. "I found a false panel in that empty little room and there are all sorts of goodies in there. I found the most exquisite axe and there are a few positively lethal tomes just waiting to be tried out. And a whip, too, with the most wonderful jewels set into the handle..."

"I found boxes of clothing," Elise added as she followed Camilla over and then sat next to Corrin. "Dresses, but some of them are really old. Maybe they belonged to our grandmother or her grandmother. I never knew any of them."

"No, I'm not even sure Xander knew our father's parents," Camilla said. She looked at the books and then realized what they were. "Oh..."

"And there's children's clothing, too. Things from babies with notes. Old things of all of ours," Elise continued. "Shoes from some of our siblings, little ribbons... All tucked away..."

Corrin didn't dare ask if there was anything of hers. She didn't really want the answer.

Camilla held a bottle up to the light and shook it. "Worth more than gold," she said with a little smile. "I'll take one bottle. The rest can remain."

Leo frowned but nodded. He opened the next book on his stack. Corrin opened hers. Inside, the treasures continued, packed tightly-- shells, a bit of chain, a few coins, pieces from game boards...

Had these all belonged to their father? Did he need to hide himself away, too? Was that some of the beginning of everything that had gone wrong?

Corrin was the first to see Xander enter the room and she was on her feet in an instant, over to him, his hands in hers as she pulled him over to see what they'd found.

But before Corrin could explain more, Xander froze and reached, digging down for a volume and oh, the one with the perfumed silk.

"My mother's," he said softly, his voice thin. He opened the cover and pulled out the silk and Corrin didn't know what to do when his tears came.

It was not the only thing he recognized, either, though there was plenty that he didn't. Most things were put back on the shelves for the time being.

And Corrin was still unsure what she wanted. She had a sword, and a dress would be nice, but not really fitting.

Maybe what she wanted wasn't something that could ever have been there.

Or, she realized as she looked at her siblings and the little collections they'd been making for themselves, and how they loved each other-- how they loved her...

Maybe she already had it.

Corrin smiled and quietly slipped over to see if Xander needed any help.

She was home.


End file.
